America's game

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Happy Fourth of July! As America celebrates its 237th birthday, we wrap up another great year of American hockey, with the Stanley Cup staying on our side of the border as it has since the New York Rangers won it in 1994, a third straight Conn Smythe Trophy winner in Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, and the beginning of the countdown toward the nation’s best hockey players heading to Russia to chase Olympic gold.

In celebration of the good old U. S. of A., here are the top 10 Americans of this past hockey season.

One of four defensemen in the NHL to reach the 30-point plateau this season, Yandle was his usual excellent self for a Coyotes team that had a disappointing follow-up to winning the Pacific Division title. He recorded his fourth straight season of double-digit goals.

Detroit’s goaltender tied for the NHL lead with five shutouts and erased any doubts about whether his breakout 2011-12 was a fluke as he posted a 21-13-7 record with a 2.13 goals against average and .923 save percentage. Howard had a .924 save percentage in the playoffs as the Red Wings took the eventual champion Blackhawks to seven games in the second round.

The regular season was not Quick’s finest, as he went 18-13-4 with a 2.45 goals against average and .902 save percentage, but he redeemed himself in the playoffs with a .934 save percentage, 1.86 goals against average and three shutouts. Quick gave up as many as three goals only five times in 18 playoff starts as the Kings went to the Western Conference finals.

What lockout? Pavelski had four goals and eight assists during the Sharks’ seven-game winning streak to start the season, the same totals that he posted in 11 playoff games as San Jose fell one game short of knocking off the defending champion Kings. Pavelski had 16 goals and 15 assists during the regular season and was a solid faceoff man, winning 342 of 660.

Schneider went 17-9-4 during the regular season and tied for the league lead with five shutouts while posting a 2.11 goals against average and .927 save percentage. Then he got hurt at the end of the regular season and returned to the Canucks’ net facing a 2-0 deficit in the first round. He was not able to get Vancouver out of that hole, and now finds himself traded to New Jersey, set to take over in net for the Devils once Martin Brodeur retires.

America’s third-leading scorer during the regular season with 18 goals and 26 assists, Stepan is becoming a star, and he just turned 23 last month. His emergence in his third season with the Rangers has basically marginalized Brad Richards, and Stepan led New York with four playoff goals while Richards was benched.

In a nation full of great goaltenders, Anderson’s numbers this season were eye-popping: A .941 save percentage and 1.69 goals against average to go with a 12-9-2 record that underscored just how much Ottawa needed him to be great. The playoffs were a struggle, as Anderson had a 3.01 goals against average, but even then, under a barrage of shots from the Penguins in the second round, he finished the postseason with a .918 save percentage.

Kessel didn’t score in the first 10 games of the season, and he still finished with 20 goals to help lead the Toronto Maple Leafs to their first playoff appearance in nine years. Once there, Kessel maintained his solid career form in the playoffs, scoring four goals with two assists to give himself 21 points in 22 lifetime playoff games.

A finalist for the Norris Trophy in his first season in Minnesota, Suter averaged a league-high 27:16 per game, and his 28 assists led the Wild. Suter went without a point in five playoff games against the Chicago Blackhawks, but played a ridiculous 31:37 per game in the postseason.

The leading scorer among Americans this season with 23 goals and 32 assists, Kane was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as MVP of the playoffs after scoring nine goals with 10 assists during the Chicago Blackhawks’ championship run. Never was Kane better than in the Game 5 of the Western Conference finals, when he completed a hat trick with a double-overtime series-winning goal. And if you’re going to celebrate the Fourth of July, there’s probably nobody more fun to do it with than Kane.